--- title: "Netflix Brags That It Used AI to Replace Human Animators In New Anime" description: "Netflix Japan's official Twitter shared a promo for its anime short \"Dog & The Boy,\" announcing that it used AI in response to a \"labor shortage.\"" date: "2023-02-02" modified: "2023-02-02" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/netflix-ai-replace-human-animators" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "ai generated images" - "anime" - "netflix" - "the digest" --- # Netflix Brags That It Used AI to Replace Human Animators In New Anime ![Netflix Japan's official Twitter shared a promo for its anime short "Dog & The Boy," announcing that it used AI in response to a "labor shortage."]() *\Image: Netflix\* ## Net Loss For whatever reason, Netflix Japan's official Twitter account thought it was a good idea to proudly proclaim that one of its newest animated shorts, called "Dog & The Boy," was produced using AI-generated imagery. That's already bound to draw the [ire]() [of]() [fans](), but Netflix made the fatal error of explicitly noting in the tweet that its Anime Creators Base, a Japan-based hub that hosts artists dedicated to churning out anime, used AI in response to the industry's supposed "labor shortage." "As an experimental effort to help the anime industry, which has a labor shortage, we used image generation technology for the background images of all three-minute video cuts!" the company wrote. https://twitter.com/NetflixJP/status/1620357552025538561 ## Dog in the Fight The AI was supplied by Rinna, an AI company with an office in Tokyo, according to a [press release](). WIT Studio, which produced hit series including "Attack On Titan" and "Vinland Saga," also collaborated — an eerie sign of anime heavyweights flirting with the technology. Watch the promotional video, and there's definitely an ominous undertone to cutesy, sappy bullshit like this being used to show off an AI image generator that the company more or less tacitly admitted took someone's job. Sorry, but not even an adorable dog and a wide-eyed anime boy cycling through dreamlike arrays of sakuras will help let this stuff slide. And if you manage to suffer through the whole thing and reach the end, that's when Netflix really rubs the AI in. It shows an example background that started off as a hand-drawn layout. Then, through two different stages, it gets touched up via AI generation, before being manually revised in the final stage. To be perfectly frank, [it looks like garbled trash](). But the most insulting cherry on top is that the [credits]() list the background designer as simply "AI (+Human)." As [*Vice* notes](), claims of a "labor shortage" are dubious at best. The anime industry in Japan is notorious for its demanding, stress-inducing ([and sometimes deadly]()) schedule and [insultingly poor pay](), earning as little as $200 *per month*. Even some top animators take home less than $3,800 a month, despite anime's [ludicrous earnings]() and popularity. The reality is that there's no shortage of willing animators, but a shortage of those willing to toil under such miserable conditions. And unfortunately, to studios whose sole bottom line is profit, AI image generators are the perfect scabs. **More on AI image generators:** *[Anime Fans In Japan Are Not Happy With AI-Generated Manga]()* ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()